What is happening with the Port Douglas marina plans?

FNQ Tourism

Shaun Hollis

Journalist

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A 2019 plan for a marina development and how the waterfront view looked this week.
An earlier Crystalbrook marina redevelopment plan.

Temporary fencing, peeling paint and boarded-up windows.

This is what confronts people who walk along the waterfront next to one of Port Douglas’s biggest tourism drawcards, the Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina.

The marina has lived through several unrealised redevelopment plans across the past decade dating back through two separate ownerships, and tourism operators spoken to this week by Newsport say another one is needed soon for the town to keep moving.

The most grandiose of those past plans, which included a six-star hotel, waterfront pool and splash-park area, was unveiled by current owner Crystalbrook Collection in 2019, with then Port Douglas Shire mayor Julia Leu celebrating its arrival.

“They have a really exciting vision for the Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina that has the potential to revitalise Port Douglas and stimulate the local economy,” she said at the time.

And before that $200m plan, Crystalbrook was reportedly working on a $100m development in 2017 which included a 100-room luxury hotel, 50 premium homes, more shops and restaurants and a 24-berth marina expansion.

Andrew Hooper-Nguyen and Chris Ellis's marina redevelopment plan.

Crystalbrook Collection owner, Syrian businessman Ghassan Aboud, said at the time the company believed it could "redefine the Australian marina experience and ensure Port Douglas is an essential-visit location for high-end global travellers".

Prior to that announcement, former owners Andrew Hooper-Nguyen and Chris Ellis - who sold the marina to the Australia-wide high-end accommodation chain in 2017 - had council-approved plans for a new hotel and apartment complex.

However, in March last year, many Port locals were surprised when the marina was placed on the market by Crystalbrook.

An expressions of interest campaign to buy the site closed on May 1, 2024, but the property went unsold.  

In June, representatives of international commercial real estate company CBRE told Newsport it was continuing “to engage in discussions with prospective buyers”.

But one property-industry insider told Newsport this week market speculators have valued the marina at less than what the seller wants to be paid.

He mentioned a figure of $35m-$40m, but that could not be independently verified.

The site is Queensland’s northernmost marina, with 135 berths available for permanent and visiting vessels, five fisherman berths and a fuel wharf. 

Temporary fencing and a decaying building at the site.

According to the real estate ads, the marina takes up 10ha of freehold and “seabed lease” land at 44 Wharf Street, and is one of Queensland’s main access points to the Great Barrier Reef.

There are also more than 20 shops, a large carpark and a marina slipway.

Newsport has reached out to both Crystalbrook and CBRE in an effort to find out more about what is now happening with the marina sale, with a CBRE agent confirming the property was still on the market.

And some local tourism operators have said privately there is a pending mystery announcement due to be made soon - perhaps before the May 3 Federal Election.

Watch this space.

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